Plimoth Patuxet Museums, Part 2

For my birthday in October, I visited Plymouth, MA, stopping at Plimoth Patuxet Museums before exploring some of the town. In my first post, I will discuss the Visitor Center, Craft Center, Historic Patuxet Homesite, and the Fort. In this post, I will discuss the 17^th-Century English Village. In the final post, I will describe Mayflower II, Plymouth Rock, and the Plymouth Harbor Seals public art display.

The reproduction 17^th-Century English Village is often the highlight of a trip to Plymouth. These timber-framed houses are similar to those built by the Pilgrims, the name early settlers of Plymouth Colony were given by historians and politicians in the 19^th century. (This idea was popularized by long-time Massachusetts politician Daniel Webster, who gave a famous speech around the 200^th anniversary of the landing. He connected the colony to contemporary concepts like westward expansion and Manifest Destiny.) The original village was actually about two-and-a-half miles away, and historians do not know for sure if this is what the houses really looked like. The houses stand in a neat row along a well-trod path leading down the hill towards the water, while wooden fences divide each property. Gardens with herbs and vegetables grow in each yard, while heritage breed animals including goats, chickens, and cows have their own fenced-in areas.

As mentioned in Part 1, Henry Hornblower was the founder of Plimoth Plantation, which began construction in 1957. The site was originally his family’s country estate, Eel River Farm. In 1919, the Olmsted Brothers had designed a garden for this estate, which included stone walls, dirt roads, and plants. However, by the 1940s Hornblower and Jesse Brewer, a local amateur archaeologist and a caretaker for Hornblower, had excavated the area looking for artifacts, especially arrowheads. Much of the estate was torn down once Hornblower decided he wanted to create Plimoth Plantation, but the garden still exists and is used as a wedding venue.

One thing to remember is that everything in the village is a reproduction, meaning you are allowed to touch with care. You may gently page through books, try on clothing, sit in chairs, and move objects around a house for a photo opportunity as long as everything is put back the way you found it. If you are uncomfortable exploring what appears to be a person’s house, the village also offers classic colonial games like hoop rolling. Costumed interpreters inside the houses are more than happy to answer your polite, thoughtful questions about their lives, although they will stay in character. Remarks about modern life will be met with confused stares. If you are interested in LARPing (live action role playing), this is among the most sophisticating experiences.

Plimoth Patuxet Museums is open rain or shine seven days a week from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The main complex is not nearly as big as Old Sturbridge Village, although adding stops at the Plimoth Grist Mill and Mayflower II along the walking trail will turn this into a full-day visit. The ticketing system is somewhat complex. Tickets for just Plimoth Patuxet are $35 for adults, $31.50 for seniors, $20 for children, and $0 for members and NEMA members (like me!), plus $5 per site for one guest of NEMA members. Visitors can add Mayflower II and the Plimoth Grist Mill to create a Combination or Heritage Pass, which is valid for two days and costs up to $46 with free parking and a shuttle system between sites during the regular museum season. While among the most expensive museum experiences, consider that Disney World is $119 for a single-day pass at the time of writing. Plimoth Patuxet is a classic American museum experience and well-worth the visit for its interpretation of history, and the history of the place itself.